QUETTA: Two personnel of Frontier Corps (FC) and a passer-by woman were killed while 35 others, including four women, three children and 10 security personnel, sustained injuries in a remote-controlled explosion at Almo Chowk on Airport Road in Quetta on Monday.
According to the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), around 40kg explosives were used in the blast that completely destroyed eight vehicles, while 10 vehicles were partially damaged. At least 18 nearby shops and two banks were also damaged.
“A car laden with explosives was parked besides the Airport Road at Almo Chowk. The explosives were detonated by a remote control when two vehicles of FC passed by the area,” Superintendent of Police Airport Road Circle told The Express Tribune.
He also confirmed the casualties and damages. “The target was security forces and passers-by. Five women and three children sustained multiple splinter wounds.”
The windowpanes of scores of houses, offices, commercial establishments and vehicle showrooms were smashed due to the impact of the blast. Explosion was heard five to six kilometers from the crime scene.
At least eight vehicles caught fire and people onboard received splinter wounds. Two vehicles of Frontier Corps were also damaged.
A heavy contingent of security forces, police and rescue workers reached the spot soon after the blast and cordoned off the area. The dead bodies and injured were taken to hospitals. A state of emergency was declared at Provincial Sundeman Hospital where civilians were brought for treatment while injured security men were shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) and FC headquarter hospital.
According to eyewitness accounts, a suspected car, parked on a footpath, was used for this attack. “I was in my pickup and behind the security forces’ vehicles. As they reached near the Almo Chowk, a powerful blast occurred,” one of the injured said.
Spokesperson of FC confirmed that two security men were killed and ten wounded in the blast. The deceased security men were identified as Waseem Abbas and Aziz.
The dead body of one FC official and 32 injured were brought to Provincial Sandeman Hospital for treatment.
“Five women and three children were among the injured. Two women are in a critical situation and had been referred to CMH,” doctors said. One of the injured woman succumbed to her injuries on her way to the hospital.
COMMENTS (14)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
@Nawab , you also missed the part when brahamdagh bugti's little nephew was brutally killed in front of her mother in karachi by your heroes , and also many innocent baloch children and women and old people were killed in dera bugti operation , and you forget all those and also what about the poor children and widows of all those missing persons , what is their crime ?? You people will never understand !
@Baloch: Einstein, you missed the part where civilians were killed in this blast and children were injured.
BTW, I am Baloch too and have no problem calling BLA a terrorist outfit.
Newton's third law states there is an equal and opposite reaction to every action . That is why these so called security officials ( oppressors ) are targeted .
BLA terrorists must be dealth with iron hand.....killing innocent will yield nothing....add fuel 2 fire
FC, Hit them back, hard, teach them a lesson, they killed our friends and family. in target killing of tons of innocent settlers and pashtuns of Baluchistan. HIT and punish them
Every bad action is a bad reaction. Follow your law first, if a Baloch is a traitor & involved in anti-state activities, then where in your law given you can abduct him, keep him for years, torture him with drills, burnings with hot metals, kill him & thrown him in deserts & mountains? What a disgusting shame! The person who broke your constitution, kept all judges in prison, killed so many innocent students of Lal Mosque, Nawab Bugti & involved BB murder case, yet you left him free by giving guard of honour. Shame on You! Pity On You!
@Jat, Baluchistan is burning because of traitors, agencies are only trying to put out the fire.
Hit back hard FC.. Teach them a lesson their generations will remember !!
FC has no way out but to be in the proactive role. The pressure and intimidation from Judiciary and enemy friendly media should be disregarded and mission to save the mother land should be given top priority. The dirty game played by the foreign agents should be defeated at all costs. Nothing is more sacred than the mother land itself. Pakistan Zindabad..
It is due to the brutal role of the agencies that Baluchistan is burning.
Agencies must play a strong role to stop insurgency in Balochistan